


The Baker's Son

by springsdandelion (writergirlie)



Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-11
Updated: 2012-04-11
Packaged: 2017-11-03 10:33:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/380429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writergirlie/pseuds/springsdandelion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gale used to resent the baker's son. Now he sees how happy he's made Katniss.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Baker's Son

It looked different than he remembered. Brighter, cleaner—he never knew that colors could be so vibrant here, without the layer of aged grime and soot that used to give everything a dull, gray cast.  Or maybe it was the sun, or the way people were carrying themselves now—the  smiles on their faces, and the way they stopped to greet each other in the street and lingered to have full conversations, rather than rushing off to where they needed to be.

 

It was nothing like the District 12 he remembered from his youth, the one he spent hours imagining all the different ways he’d escape it if he ever got the chance. If it had been like this, maybe he wouldn’t have been in such a hurry to get the hell away from it.

 

Although there were other reasons over the years why he stayed away.

 

The small hand that held his gave a gentle, but insistent tug, pulling him forward and jolting him out of his thoughts.

 

“Daddy! Can we go look at the cakes in the window?”

 

Gale felt his whole body stiffen at once, though thankfully, his daughter didn’t seem to notice. Instead, she only tugged harder, and he took it as opportunity to shake off the momentary lapse, following her lead as she broke free from his hold and started to make a run for the bakery that stood in the center of the town.

 

“Daisy! Hey, slow down…”

 

Breathless and pink-cheeked, she looked over her shoulder as she ran, then fixed her sight in front of her again, looking longingly at the window that was only now beginning to come into his line of sight, with its row of cakes neatly lining shelves in all manners of shapes and sizes and colors. Gale knew, even without looking at them up close, that they would be exquisitely detailed, decorated with intricate designs and each one lovingly crafted by its creator with the same kind of careful attention he brought to everything in his life. Including the woman he loved.

 

This much, Gale knew, because it was the one thing he and the baker had in common.

 

Daisy had stopped now, excitedly waving him forward as he hurried to where she stood. His eye caught movement up ahead. A little boy with blond curls that gleamed in the sun had burst through the front door of the bakery, bouncing a ball on his knee. His mother came up to the doorframe to tell him to stay where she could watch him, and Gale felt his heart stop.

 

“Daddy?” Daisy, no longer able to wait until he caught up to her, ran forward to meet him halfway and grab his hand once more. “Come on, come on!”

 

He laughed and scooped her up, drawing a burst of giggles from her, then turned so she could see what he was pointing out to her.

 

“See that little boy up there?” he said.

 

“Mm hmm.”

 

“I wanted to marry his mother, but she ran off with the baker’s son.”

 

Daisy furrowed her brow. “But why would she want to marry the baker’s son, when she could have married you?”

 

Gale felt his mouth curve into a small smile and he leaned forward to kiss his daughter’s cheek. She looked back at him, even more bewildered than before. His gaze moved back to the little boy kicking the ball. His sister had now joined him, her dark hair spilling out of the long braid down her back. Their mother had come to the door again, leaning against the jamb, and moments later, the baker himself came up from behind her, circling his arms around her waist and bending down to receive her kiss when she turned her head towards him.

 

She looked happy. They looked happy. And they had earned this. Fought long and hard for it, and suffered terrible losses to get here. How could he begrudge them this?

 

“Because he gave her bread,” he said softly. “And he saved her life.”

 

Daisy seemed to be pondering this, looking back on the family as they made their way back into the bakery. Gale set her back down on the ground and took hold of her hand.

 

“All right, let’s get a look at those cakes. Race you over there?”

 

With a peel of laughter, she streaked down the street, and the weight in his heart—the one he’d carried for more than half of his life now—finally began to lift.

 

He no longer resented the baker’s son.


End file.
